Radiographic Parameters in Adult Degenerative Scoliosis and Different Parameters Between Sagittal Balanced and Imbalanced ADS Patients

A retrospective study. To summarize and describe the radiographic parameters of adult degenerative scoliosis (ADS) and explore the radiological parameters which are significantly different in sagittal balanced and imbalanced ADS patients. ADS is the most common type of adult spinal deformity. However, no comprehensive description of radiographic parameters in ADS patients has been made, and few studies have been performed to explore which radiological parameters are significantly different between sagittal balanced and imbalanced ADS patients. Medical records of ADS patients in our outpatient clinic from January 2012 to January 2014 were reviewed. Demographic data including age and sex, and radiographic data including the coronal Cobb angle, location of apical vertebra/disc, convexity of the curve, degree of apical vertebra rotation, curve segments, thoracic kyphosis (TK), lumbar lordosis (LL), thoracolumbar kyphosis (TL), sacral slope (SS), pelvic tilt (PT), pelvic incidence (PI), sagittal vertical axis (SVA), and PI minus LL (PI-LL) were reviewed to make comprehensive description of radiographic parameters of ADS. Furthermore, patients were divided into 2 groups according to whether the patients' sagittal plane was balanced: Group A (imbalanced, SVA > 5 cm) and Group B (balanced, SVA  ≤ 5 cm). Demographic and radiological parameters were compared between these 2 groups. A total of 99 patients were included in this study (Group A = 33 and Group B = 66; female = 83 and male = 16; sex ratio = 5:1). The median of age were 67 years (range: 41-92 years). The median of coronal Cobb angle and length of curve was 23 (range: 10-75°) and 5 segments (range: 3-7), respectively. The most common location of apical vertebra was at L2 to L3 (81%) and the median of degree of apical vertebra rotation was 2° (range: 1-3). Our study also showed significant correlations between coronal Cobb angle and curve segments (r = 0.23, P < 0.005) and degree of apical vertebra rotation (r = 0.53, P < 0.005). With regard to the sagittal balance, there were significant differences in age, LL, PT, coronal Cobb angle, degree of apical vertebra rotation, and PI-LL between imbalanced group and balanced group (all P < 0.05); however, no significant difference was observed in gender, TK, TL, SS, and PI. Our study provided the general radiographic parameters of ADS. Weak or moderate but significant correlations between coronal Cobb angle and curve segments and degree of apical vertebra rotation were observed. Furthermore, age, coronal Cobb angle, LL, PT, and PI-LL were significantly different between sagittal balanced and imbalanced ADS patients.